GC 2009: More Gran Turismo 5 Impressions

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Tearing it up in one of the biggest games of the show in Cologne.

By Charles Onyett

A big chunk of Sony's booth is dedicated, unsurprisingly, to the latest in Polyphony Digital's exalted racing series, Gran Turismo 5. In booths with seats set up in front of Logitech force feedback wheels and foot petals that allow for a more engaging show floor experience, one track is on display. You're limited to using a Subaru Impreza WRC 2009 for the race, but here's the competition:

Amuse S2000 GTI Turbo

Blitz Dunlop ER34 '07

HKS CT230R '08

Audi R8 4.2 FSI R tronic '07

Ford Focus RS WRC 07 '08

Nissan Fairlady Z '08

Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A '02

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR '07

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV GSR '96

Before starting up on the track it was possible to tweak quite a few settings for traction and stability, though I couldn't read exactly what they were because it was listed in German. Limited tweaking was also possible mid-race, with a display that popped just above the bottom of the screen, but again the options were in German.

I entered into the replay mode first, where from an outside the car view I could clearly see the diver, who wore a helmet, and could zoom in the camera with the triangle button and switch between cars, which really helped highlight the sharp visuals and detailed car models. While this was entertaining for a bit, I decided it was finally time to race, and on the kiosk I played found a number of assists had been enabled to help me through the course.

On the ground was painted a blue dotted line indicating the best route to follow to the track's end. Near corners the line would go solid, meaning that's your ideal time to brake if you want to avoid flying off and slamming into a wall, or giving up too much space and letting a competitor get the inside track to squeak by. You can help monitor this by using the D-pad to look to your left and right, as well as behind your car, and of course there's the rear view mirror if you choose to use it.

As I adjusted to the way the wheel slammed back and forth upon slight impacts and got my handling under control, my experience was interrupted by some particularly aggressive drivers. I couldn't tell if they were doing it on purpose, but I kept getting slammed by the noses of pursuing drivers, causing me to spin out. It wasn't an easy thing trying to get back on a proper line without waiting for the pack to pass by or risk getting drilled and spun out yet again by oncoming traffic.

After the short race was over, I moved kiosks and tried another with much more hardcore settings. Here the visual aid line had been turned off and the Subaru switched to manual, meaning I had to tap paddles flanking the steering column on the wheel to shift up and down. Despite getting tagged by my competitors and having to adapt to the throttling of the force feedback wheel (that thing kicked hard), I was still able to get the sense that Gran Turismo 5 is, like its predecessors, a hardcore product that requires intense attention to steering and line as well as a knowledge of track layout and the position of others are around you. Braking too little will invariably send you straight into a wall when rounding a bend, which will in turn spin your ride around and, if you're unsure how to recover, put you in a position that requires even more time to get back on the right path. It's an experience about patience and an intelligent use of aggressive maneuvers to get ahead. Or just buying a better car than everyone else.